on December 26 2010 my sisters and I were just about to head to the airport for our holiday vacation when suddenly I realized I really needed to pee so I run to the bathroom and I pull off my pants and I sit down and i look at my underwear and I see blood I felt abdominal pains in that week and suddenly now before my eyes I was bleeding from the inside out I begin to cry I strip off my underwear I run into the living room to show it to my mom and through my tears
I tell her how much I love her I apologize for having to leave so early at such a young age I give my sisters hugs but instead of responding by reflecting my grief and sorrow my mom breaks into the smile she puts her hands on my shoulders and starts jumping up and down singing you're a woman you're a woman yes I had gotten my first period menstruation let's talk about it oh yeah now before I proceed I want you to take a moment to feel if you or the people around you may feel discomfort around
the topic of periods because today I'm going to talk about how that taboo surrounding the topic of menstruation is hindering our global development three years ago in the spring of my freshman year of high school my mom lost her job and within a couple weeks we could no longer afford our home we had no choice but to move on and enter what I call our time of transition several months of couch surfing with our closest friends who have since become family my commute to school turned from 10 minutes to over 2 hours long I was
constantly worried about my family's financial situation wondering how much longer we could afford food wondering how much longer I'd have to fill in that bubble mark no permanent address on school forms at that time I became fascinated by other people's hardships probably to raise my own spirits to distract myself and to better understand what I was going through and I felt that I could relate in a way because at that same time I didn't feel like I had a place to call my own home and I found myself in an abusive relationship during countless hours
of navigating my way to school or in staying visiting at a homeless shelter I converse with homeless woman I met I began to ask them what they found most challenging about their living situation and I asked if there was anything that I could do to help their responses surprised me I had never thought about the issue of Maestro hygiene I began to keep a journal and collected stories of using stolen pillowcases toilet paper and most commonly brown paper grocery bags found on the street to maintain their periods I became fascinated and angered by this unaddressed
natural need noticing how woman's shoulders rose in nervousness when I asked them about it how they whispered the word period and looked around nervously as if they had something to hide I began talking to different nonprofit organizations and found that none of them openly and sustainably supported menstrual hygiene either due to a lack of funds or a lack of displayed need thus there was this never-ending cycle of organizations not prioritizing menstrual hygiene and women not feeling confident to stand up and advocate for the natural needs leaving compare heads completely on a dress I also find
it confusing that so many people were afraid to talk about periods after all if every single woman experiences it on a monthly basis for an average of 40 years from the age of 12 to 52 why was it such a hush topic these stories coming from women who were in much worse living situations that I was toured on whatever closed-minded and pessimistic perspective I had until that point suddenly I found myself waking up each morning with excitement optimistic about the smallest things in my life I looked at my life with a newfound immense gratitude grateful
for the educational opportunities I was provided with with the support network I had a family and friends and most of all to have my mom in my life who inspires me with her intelligence resourcefulness and strength I knew at that time in my life that I had the power and drive to make positive change I began dreaming of different ways to address this unaddressed natural need of Mental Hygiene and when my family saved up enough move money to move back into her apartment in the spring of my sophomore year I founded camions of care camions
of care is now a youth friend global nonprofit that strives to manage and celebrate mental hygiene through advocacy education and service through the global distribution of feminine hygiene products and the engagement of youth leadership through a nationwide network of campus chapters in the last two years camions of care network of over 1,700 volunteers has distributed over 10,000 care packages to over 32 nonprofit partners in 10 different states and five different countries and we continue to expand our network of 23 chapters established at universities and high schools I call it the münster movement and I'm here
today is a proud advocate for it when it comes to global development in advancing families and working to break the cycle of poverty women's empowerment is the key and a major obstacle that stands in front of us of bringing all women to the forefront is this type of around menstruation women's empowerment is a huge topic right now and the most sustainable way to accomplishing this and gender equality in general is by improving education and employment opportunities for women and girls but no matter how much attention we put towards creating these opportunities women and girls cannot
take the full advantage of them if periods aren't addressed periods according to FEM International are the number one reason why girls miss school in developing countries in Kenya girls miss an average of four point nine days of school each month just because of their period that is almost a full week of school 25% of one school month because of the taboo surrounding the topic of periods people are afraid to talk about it and if this need is an address women and girls will not be provided with the confidence and dignity that every human deserves to
discover and reach their full potential and take full advantage of the opportunities set forth by some of a truly amazing work being done by international initiatives right now the taboo around menstruation also affects mental and physical health in India seventy percent of reproductive diseases are caused by poor monstro hygiene and the effects can go so far as to affect maternal mortality unclean methods of maintaining your period either due to a lack of resources or a lack of education surrounding the usage of products can cause infections ranging from skin irritation to something more fatal like toxic
shock syndrome all around the world women and girls often feel embarrassed or overly self-conscious when they're on on their periods they may feel complete discomfort as they develop strange bodily odors experience piercing menstrual cramps and enter the daunting phase of PMS where moods are swinging like crazy periods can be scary for young girls too in many countries as I have learned can be scary for what it symbolizes the transition from experimental childhood and exploration to heavy responsibilities and the cultural signal to one's family community that you are ready to be a wife and mother even
here in America this taboo around menstruation causes people to associate periods with weakness girls feel emotionally on edge in pain with cramps confused about new food cravings and worried about bleeding through their clothes I myself before coming to the realization of how natural and women Lee it was to have your period identifying my time of the month as a time when I was less capable less able to participate less able to compete with my male counterparts the fear of talking about menstruation starts at a really young age in the final years of elementary school when
we all enter the terrifying experience of health class I remember my health class the condoms on the bananas my teacher accidentally got the lubricated condoms so for the rest of the day we were all walking around with a smell of latex and lube covering our fingers it was really awkward anyways the curriculum usually begins like this boys and girls start in a classroom and they talk about the importance of sleep family relationships nutrition but then the boys and girls are split up the boys in one classroom and the girls in the other and the boys
talk about puberty how their voice is going to lower not to be scared of that and the girls talk about periods the teacher may explain what it is hold up a tampon and explain how to use it meanwhile the word periods of menstruation is never mentioned in the boys classroom so from that point on girls are taught that you only talk about periods with other girls if you talk about it at all when I became fascinated with the topic of menstruation and practically obsessed with breaking the stigma around it I began calling teachers all around
the nation asking them what tactics they used to teach about menstruation and I usually got the answer that they didn't touch on it they simply didn't have time and didn't want to deal with the awkwardness around it but when they did they did so again in the gender segregated classrooms this discovery is actually what started a whole new program with camions of care in which we visit classrooms of younger age groups and we talk about natural needs we teach that the human body is something that we all want to understand that we all want to
be empathetic to even if we don't personally experience it of course when we visit classrooms and we talk about puberty and we say the word period we're met with an overwhelming sense of laughter the girls blush their shoulders rise they kind of shrink down and they look around and thinking that everyone in that room is looking at them and wondering if they're on their period at that exact moment but then we have our teen volunteers explain how there's no need to feel awkward about it how natural it is how every single woman experiences it on
a monthly basis for an average of 40 years of her life we explain how to necessary natural step in becoming a woman it may take more persuading in some cases but in the end the students leave with an understanding of how natural it is how this is something that every woman deserves to feel comfortable during the uncomfortable feeling that some of you may have around this topic is totally understandable after all this is a woman's specific need and it's not a very cleanly one at that however that being said that discomfort needs to change because
men especially need to be involved in this menstrual movement too in the United States less than 20% of our government positions are held by women and if that 80 percent who are men are afraid to talk about periods and acknowledge it as a natural need women will continue to feel nervous ashamed and unclean during their periods women know all humans deserve to feel confident and dignified and ready to discover and reach their full potential no one deserves to feel quieted or weaker because of a natural need if the key to international development is women's empowerment
through education and economic purpose we as a global community want to make sure that girls are supported and confident to excel meaning that we all have to become advocates for natural needs so how can we make a change right now I believe that it starts with being mindful and thinking about the power of language ladies I'm talking to you don't think of your periods as something that makes you less confident something that makes you weaker yes it can be uncomfortable and it's a little bit of a hassle but you're still just the shard you're more
women Lee because of it and to the gentlemen out there husbands brothers boyfriends uncles I'm talking to you and you don't avoid the topic don't make derogatory comments if the lady in your life is on her period be accepting be loving be supportive I'm not saying go out to the nearest grocery station or gas station and buy the amount of feminine hygiene products although that would be a really beautiful gesture I'm not expecting bad but be compassionate about it if you want to help what I call the menstrual moment on a larger scale find an
organization like commands of care that's working to break the stigma and make feminine hygiene products more accessible for women of all backgrounds but for now to start create a safe space start a conversation talk to someone and discuss why are we so afraid to talk about something so natural thank you you
